Simi Valley man gets 8 years in prison for 6th DUI conviction

Hazelrigg had five prior convictions

A judge on Tuesday sentenced a 59-year-old Simi Valley man to eight years in prison after he was found guilty of drunken driving with a blood-alcohol level of twice the legal limit, according to prosecutors.

John Hazelrigg has five prior convictions for drunken driving, including one in which he killed a Nevada motorist in 1997 and was sent to prison, court evidence indicated. He also had a 2004 drunken-driving conviction in Ventura County that sent him to prison for 32 months and he was charged in 2009 with misdemeanor DUI in Santa Barbara County, the evidence showed.

Deputy District Attorney Jessica Giguerre said in an interview that Hazelrigg was upset and sarcastic during the sentencing and told Ventura County Superior Court Judge Kent Kellegrew that he planned to drink and drive again.

She said the defendant was a “ticking time bomb” and a threat to others on the highway. Giguerre said the judge said in court that he was concerned for the safety of the community, and that is why he gave Hazelrigg the maximum sentence.

Giguerre said Hazelrigg must serve 85 percent of the sentence before he can be paroled.

Hazelrigg’s lawyer, Dennis Kucera of Thousand Oaks, said his client had been out of jail on his own recognizance since his arrest in 2010 and had voluntarily entered a rehabilitation program.

“It was the record that did him in,” Kucera said.

Kucera said Hazelrigg had brought his drinking under control on his own and was making progress when told he had to go to prison again.

“But, of course, that’s the judge’s call,” said Kucera, noting that the 1997 drunken-driving fatality is 17 years old.

Kucera said his client made the remarks to the judge because he was upset at getting a prison sentence.

Hazelrigg was convicted April 24 of crashing into the vehicle of a female motorist entering Highway 101 in Camarillo in May 2010, according to Giguerre.

The woman claimed her vehicle received more than $10,000 damage, Giguerre said, yet Hazelrigg failed to immediately stop.

“He kept driving as far as he could,” Giguerre said.

She said Hazelrigg had a blood-alcohol level of 0.16 percent, and the legal limit is 0.08 percent.

“I think he got the maximum sentence because these cases are taken very seriously,” Giguerre said.